Then and Now - China

[Stone]

An interesting set of stats comparing China in 1978 to today.

 

I found this one most interesting:

 

Average Chinese savings account balance: 210 RMB. Phenomenal, considering a good job paid 50 RMB per month.

 

In 2007: 172,534 RMB. Phenomenal, considering average American household debt in 2008 was $118,000.

 

 

 

http://www.chinaexpat.com/blog/ernie/2009/...-and-today.html

 

My guess is that average Chinese (household) savings of 172,523 RMB do not count rural households, but can include big cities as well as small towns.

 

Comparing average Chinese savings account with average American mortgage debt is not informative. A typical American household has $4K in the bank. For the half of American households who have a retirement account, the average balance is $45K. And the median American family "net worth" is $120K, according to the latest Fed Survey of Family Finance.

[a2784]

An interesting set of stats comparing China in 1978 to today.

 

I found this one most interesting:

 

Average Chinese savings account balance: 210 RMB. Phenomenal, considering a good job paid 50 RMB per month.

 

In 2007: 172,534 RMB. Phenomenal, considering average American household debt in 2008 was $118,000.

 

 

 

http://www.chinaexpat.com/blog/ernie/2009/...-and-today.html

 

My guess is that average Chinese (household) savings of 172,523 RMB do not count rural households, but can include big cities as well as small towns.

 

Comparing average Chinese savings account with average American mortgage debt is not informative. A typical American household has $4K in the bank. For the half of American households who have a retirement account, the average balance is $45K. And the median American family "net worth" is $120K, according to the latest Fed Survey of Family Finance.

I agree with you as I said here:

 

The average chinese savings account balance I would think is based on total population same as GDP. Granted comparing that to the average household debt in USA is not really fair since household debt/savings is impacted by most people have a house loan. That is another topic however --

 

The report came from a Chinese govt. office so they were trying to make a point I think that China is a nation of savers and USA is a nation of spenders. This is true to a large extent but their comparison was unfair and as unfavorable as one could make it.

 

Of course most Americans net worth is dependent on their house value.

[Stone]

China indeed has made tremendous progress since 1978. I remember back in 1978, I was a middle school student, in a big city of Chongqing. My family was allocated two rooms in a two-story building which housed many families, who all had household members working for the same employer. We shared a large kitchen with some 5-6 families, and a public bathroom and public restroom with even more people. Meat and vegetable cooking oil were rationed, as you needed coupons to buy those items. But I do not remember I was ever hungry at that time, as I had a lot of fun with other kids in the same housing compound. 1978 also marked the first (or 2nd) year when China restarted National College Entrance Exam. So many students began to be under growing academic pressure.

[a2784]

China indeed has made tremendous progress since 1978. I remember back in 1978, I was a middle school student, in a big city of Chongqing. My family was allocated two rooms in a two-story building which housed many families, who all had household members working for the same employer. We shared a large kitchen with some 5-6 families, and a public bathroom and public restroom with even more people. Meat and vegetable cooking oil were rationed, as you needed coupons to buy those items. But I do not remember I was ever hungry at that time, as I had a lot of fun with other kids in the same housing compound. 1978 also marked the first (or 2nd) year when China restarted National College Entrance Exam. So many students began to be under growing academic pressure.

Thanks for the good insight into 1978 China. Would love to hear more sometime.

[a2784]

And here is a nugget from the CIA Factbook:

 

The USA has a bigger disparity in wealth than in China. Now maybe this does not surprise anybody but it sure shocked the heck out of me.

 

 

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/th...&rank=43#us

 

 

Without doing any of the arithmetic myself, I would guess that China's low number is due more to the vast numbers of people living somewhat equivalently at poverty levels, rather than any kind of a universal upsurgence of wealth.

Not sure but you may be correct. This does not take away from the trend in the USA of GDP and the index rising:

 

Gini indices for the United States at various times, according to the US Census Bureau:[6][7]

 

1929: 45.0 (estimated)

1947: 37.6 (estimated)

1967: 39.7 (first year reported)

1968: 38.6 (lowest index reported)

1970: 39.4

1980: 40.3

1990: 42.8

2000: 46.2 [8]

2005: 46.9

2006: 47.0 (highest index reported)

2007: 46.3

2008: 46.6

 

A comparision of CEO salary to avg. worker's salary from 1970 to 2008 will tell you the same thing.

[david_dawei]

ok. So I should buy a book which a post has stats based on... so the Original poster should not buy the book despite a thread based on a writing based on a book which they have never read.... but all others should buy the book and read it before they post in reply?

 

I found it for $2.00 online... I'll buy the book. Will the OP and you do the same? Maybe then we can talk about it.

Just to give an update. I ordered the book. I'll wait to hear if others are as willing to read what they want to post about.

 

I was not willing to comment but am willing to read it first.

I found it for 20 USD online. Where did you find it for 2 USD?

Have you hard of Amazon.com ?

[a2784]

ok. So I should buy a book which a post has stats based on... so the Original poster should not buy the book despite a thread based on a writing based on a book which they have never read.... but all others should buy the book and read it before they post in reply?

 

I found it for $2.00 online... I'll buy the book. Will the OP and you do the same? Maybe then we can talk about it.

Just to give an update. I ordered the book. I'll wait to hear if others are as willing to read what they want to post about.

 

I was not willing to comment but am willing to read it first.

I found it for 20 USD online. Where did you find it for 2 USD?

Have you hard of Amazon.com ?

I only search for information on the author, the book, and the source of his information. During that search I ran across sites selling the book for 20-32 USD. I was just curious where you found the book for 2 USD. Nothing was meant to be implied by my question other than this.

 

The book you found has no author listed. The actual book by Jin Quan is "China in Diagrams 1978-2008". This book is different from the $2 used one on Amazon.com. As I said, if you are really interested in a good economic overview of China's development look at the other book I referenced earlier.

Edited February 24, 2010 by a2784 (see edit history)

[a2784]

I found this in the link Tony n Terrific posted about labor shortage in PRD. This goes along with this topic.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8465901.stm

 

However I don't know what population set or source the BBC used for this information.